Other designations for the region have fallen out of use, such as the Northwest or Old Northwest and Mid-America. The Northwest Territory was one of the earliest territories of the United States, stretching northwest from the Ohio River to northern Minnesota and the upper-Mississippi; the upper-Mississippi watershed including the Missouri and Illinois Rivers was the setting for the earlier French settlements of the Illinois Country and the Ohio Country. Economically the region is balanced between heavy industry and agriculture, with finance and services such as medicine and education becoming important, its central location makes it a transportation crossroads for river boats, autos and airplanes. Politically, the region swings back and forth between the parties, thus is contested and decisive in elections. After the sociological study Middletown, based on Muncie, commentators used Midwestern cities as "typical" of the nation. Earlier, the rhetorical question, "Will it play in Peoria?", had become a stock phrase using Peoria, Illinois to signal whether something would appeal to mainstream America.

The region has a higher employment-to-population ratio than the Northeast, the West, the South, or the Sun Belt states as of 2011. Traditional definitions of the Midwest include the Northwest Ordinance Old Northwest states and many states that were part of the Louisiana Purchase; the states of the Old Northwest are known as Great Lakes states and are east-north central in the United States. The Ohio River runs along the southeastern section while the Mississippi River runs north to south near the center. Many of the Louisiana Purchase states in the west-north central United States, are known as the Great Plains states, where the Missouri River is a major waterway joining with the Mississippi; the Midwest lies north of the 36°30′ parallel that the 1820 Missouri Compromise established as the dividing line between future slave and non-slave states. The Midwest Region is defined by the U. S. Census Bureau as these 12 states: Illinois: Old Northwest, Mississippi River, Ohio River, Great Lakes state Indiana: Old Northwest, Ohio River, Great Lakes state Iowa: Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River, Missouri River state Kansas: Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains, Missouri River state Michigan: Old Northwest and Great Lakes state Minnesota: Old Northwest, Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River, part of Red River Colony before 1818, Great Lakes state Missouri: Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River, Missouri River, border state Nebraska: Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains, Missouri River state North Dakota: Louisiana Purchase, part of Red River Colony before 1818, Great Plains, Missouri River state Ohio: Old Northwest, Ohio River, Great Lakes state.

The southeastern part of the state is part of northern AppalachiaSouth Dakota: Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains, Missouri River state Wisconsin: Old Northwest, Mississippi River, Great Lakes stateVarious organizations define the Midwest with different groups of states. For example, the Council of State Governments, an organization for communication and coordination among state governments, includes in its M

Stephen Christopher Pikiell is an American college basketball coach and since March 16th, 2016, the head men's basketball coach at Rutgers. Prior to Rutgers, Pikiell was the head coach at Stony Brook for over a decade, leading the Seawolves to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016. Born and raised in Bristol, Pikiell was one of nine children and graduated from St. Paul Catholic High School in Bristol in 1986. At the University of Connecticut, Pikiell was a point guard, two-year captain and four-year letterwinner for the Huskies from 1987 to 1991, he averaged 8.2 points a game as a freshman. While Pikiell was the team captain, Connecticut won its first Big East title and advanced to the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen. In 1991, Pikiell was given the UConn Club Senior Athlete Award for outstanding contributions to UConn athletics. After graduation, Pikiell stayed on as an assistant to the UConn staff before moving on to Yale University, as an assistant coach from 1992–95. During 1995-96, Pikiell served as the interim head coach at Wesleyan University.

His former coach and colleague Howie Dickenman became the head coach at Central Connecticut State and hired Pikiell as an assistant coach, where he stayed from 1997–2001, with the Blue Devils reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2000. Pikiell joined fellow UConn alum Karl Hobbs as an assistant at George Washington from 2001–05, where he was part of the Colonials 2004 NIT and 2005 NCAA Tournament squads. On April 13, 2005, Pikiell replaced Nick Macarchuk as the 10th head coach in program history. At the time, Pikiell became the first Connecticut alum who played for Calhoun to coach a Division I program. Taking over a program that transitioned to Division I in 1999, Stony Brook endured three-straight losing seasons in his first three years. In the 2008–09 season, the Seawolves went 16–14 for its first winning season as Division I program; the following year in 2009–10, Stony Brook earned their first regular season championship with a 22–10, 13–3 record, ending with a semifinal loss in the tournament.

By virtue of winning the regular season, Stony Brook lost to Illinois. Pikiell guided the Seawolves to a 15–17 mark in 2010–11, making a run to the America East Championship game after an upset over top-seeded Vermont in the semifinals, but lost to Boston on a last-second foul. From 2011 to 2016, Stony Brook won three America East regular season titles, while winning the conference tournament for the first time in school history in 2016 en route to the Seawolves' first NCAA Tournament appearance. In that span, Stony Brook went 117–47, while appearing in two NIT and two CBI tournaments in addition to the NCAA Tournament appearance, his overall record at Stony Brook was 192–155 in 11 seasons. On March 19, 2016, Pikiell was announced as the next coach at Rutgers

Gerson Luiz Gusmão is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a left back, is the manager of Operário Ferroviário. Born in Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Gusmão played as a left back during his career. Known as Gerson during his playing days, he represented Pelotas, Novo Hamburgo, Esporte Clube Palmeirense, Santa Cruz-RS, Glória, Associação Esportiva Sapiranga, São Gabriel and Brasil de Pelotas. In 2007, one year after retiring, Gusmão returned to Novo Hamburgo and was appointed manager of the under-17 squad, he worked with the under-19s in 2009, being appointed Paulo Turra's assistant at the main squad. Gusmão left Noia in 2011, worked as Itamar Schülle's assistant at Chapecoense and Santo André before returning to the club in 2013. In 2014, he again followed Schülle at Caxias. In 2015, Gusmão was working as Schülle's assistant at Operário Ferroviário. On 20 November of that year, he was appointed manager of Novo Hamburgo for the upcoming season. On 23 March 2016, Gusmão was named manager of Operário Ferroviário.